Dr. Andy Field

1. The mysteries of the eel in the anus, the menstruating lap dancers and whether Teaching Statistics can ever be Interesting Dr. Andy Field

2. (My) Aims and Objectives • Actually I’m not sure … • To show how ‘colourful’ examples can be used to spice up statistics teaching. • To Introduce more smut into statistics • To shamelessly plug my book. • To illustrate how I waste my time on the internet when I should be working …

3. Challenges • Conners, et al. (1998): • Motivation • Statistics anxiety • Performance extremes • Making learning last • What do students like? • Music • Relationships • Sex • Drugs/Drinking • Celebrities • Weird Shit

4. Music: Use Your Own Experience Hygiene (Day 1 Download Festival)

5. Hygiene (Day 1 Download Festival) Hygiene (Day 2 Download Festival) Hygiene (Day 3 Download Festival)

6. The Heteroscedasticity Song Heteroscedasticity is hard to say If you get it, you’ll hope it goes away Or perhaps that’s syphilis, it’s hard to tell But syphilis won’t leave you in Statistics Hell If your residuals are funneling out You better get ready to scream and shout Coz if your data are hetroscedastic Your model is a lousy fit

7. The Sphericity Song Spericity, Sphericity What a Fucking Pain When I think of sphericity It really melts my brain That’s why I have Mauchley’s Test To help me on my way Because if it’s NOT significant Sphericity goes away

8. Relationships: Probably best not to use your own experience

9. Infidelity • Shackelford et al. (2000): men get homicidal/suicidal and women feel undesirable/insecure. • We took some men and women and got their partners to tell them they had slept with someone else. • We then took each person to two rooms each with a bobo doll within. • Bobo doll with picture of their own face on it, • Bobo doll with picture of their partner’s face on it. • They were left alone with each doll for 5 minutes • The number of punches thrown was measured.

10. Sex: Definitely don’t use your own experience

12. Drinking: Use everyone’s experience • Testing the effects of Alcohol and Gender on ‘the beer-goggles effect’: • IV 1 (Alcohol): None, 2 pints, 4 pints • IV 2 (Gender): Male, Female • Dependent Variable (DV) was an objective measure of the attractiveness of the partner selected at the end of the evening.

13. There was a significant interaction between the amount of alcohol consumed and the gender of the person selecting a mate, on the attractiveness of the partner selected, F(2, 42) = 11.91, p < .001. Interpretation: Interaction

14. Celebrities: Embrace your vacuous side • Are certain Bushtucker foods more revolting than others? • Four Foods tasted by 8 celebrities: • Stick Insect • Kangaroo Testicle • Fish Eyeball • Witchetty Grub • Outcome: • Time to retch (seconds).

15. Witchetty Grub Kangaroo Testicle Stick Insect Fish Eye

16. The Output: Means

17. Channel Your Hatred … • Attitudes to Robbie Williams • 28 Participants • 7 = Robbie Williams primes Nice Characteristics • 7 = Robbie Williams primes Nasty Characteristics • 7 = Ed Gein primes Nice Characteristics • 7 = Ed Gein primes Nasty Characteristics • 30 Target words are presented subliminally • Variables: • IV1 = Prime (Robbie or Ed) • IV2 = Target (Nice vs. Nasty Characteristics) • DV = Number of Characteristics Recognized.

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23. Generous

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27. Selfish

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34. Egotistic

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38. Bell-End

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42. Wanker

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44. Prime × Target Interaction

45. Weird Shit: Under no circumstances use your own experience Lo et al (2003), Surgery.

47. Does Humour Work? • Do students want it? • 96.6% do (Epting et al., 2004) • Information retention: • Conflicting evidence (Gruner, 1967) • The muppet show enhances children’s learning through attention (Zillmannet al., 1980) • Concept-specific humour = better retention of those concepts (Kaplan & Pascoe, 1977) • Effectiveness • Humour associated with effectiveness for male but not female tutors (Bryant et al., 1980) • Appeal • Humour makes male tutors more popular, but not females.

48. What about in textbooks … • Humour in textbooks (Klein et al, 1982) • Increases enjoyment • Does not significantly improve: • Learning, • Interest, • Persuasiveness, • The desire to read more • Reduces the credibility of the author.